Reference

Real Estate Paperwork in Ontario, Explained: Every Form You Sign Buying or Selling

An Ontario transaction produces fifty to two hundred pages of signatures, most of them on standard forms with numbers — Form 100, Form 123, Form 220 — that agents reference as if everyone knows them. This guide walks through each document in the order you meet it, says what it does, and flags the clauses that actually matter.

Updated October 22, 2026 · TORE.ca editorial

1. 1.Before you work with an agent

   RECO Information Guide

   Since TRESA took effect on December 1, 2023, every Ontario registrant must give you the RECO Information Guide before you sign anything or receive services, and you acknowledge receipt. It explains the difference between being a client (represented) and a self-represented party, the duties owed to each, and how to complain. It is not a contract.

   Representation agreements

   • Buyer Representation Agreement (OREA Form 300): appoints a brokerage to represent you, for a term, in an area, for a commission (normally paid from the seller’s side). Watch the term, the holdover clause, and whether the commission has a floor that could leave you paying a top-up on a low-commission listing.
   • Listing Agreement (Form 200 freehold / 201 condo): appoints the listing brokerage, sets the list price, the term, the total commission and split, the holdover, and authorizes MLS advertising.
   • Self-Represented Party acknowledgment: if you deal with the other side’s agent without your own, you sign a form confirming they do not represent you.

2. 2.The Agreement of Purchase and Sale (Form 100 / 101)

   The APS is the contract. Form 100 is for freehold, Form 101 for condominiums; the pre-printed pages are OREA’s standard terms and the typed Schedule A holds the deal-specific clauses. The parts that matter:

   • Purchase price and deposit — the deposit amount, when it is due ("upon acceptance" means within 24 hours in Ontario practice) and who holds it (the listing brokerage, in trust).
   • Irrevocability — the date and time until which the offer stands. Once accepted within it, the contract is formed.
   • Completion (closing) date — must be a business day; the deal closes by 6:00 pm unless otherwise stated.
   • Chattels included / fixtures excluded — appliances, light fixtures, window coverings, the EV charger. If it is not written, fixtures stay and chattels go.
   • Rental items — hot water tank, furnace, water softener, alarm: the buyer assumes the contract unless the agreement says the seller buys it out.
   • HST — "included in" (resale, where no HST applies) or "in addition to" (new construction).
   • Title search date — the date by which the buyer’s lawyer must raise title objections (requisitions), typically a few weeks before closing.
   • Present use / future use — the seller warrants the current lawful use (e.g., single-family residence); if the buyer needs a different use (a duplex), it must be stated here.
   • Schedule A — conditions (financing, inspection, status certificate, sale of buyer’s property), the seller’s warranties (no UFFI, no grow-op, fuel tank removed), and any special terms. This is where lawyers earn their fee.

   Form 101 adds condo-specific terms: the unit and parking/locker descriptions by PIN, the status certificate condition, and a clause that the buyer accepts the corporation’s declaration, by-laws and rules.

3. 3.Conditions, amendments and waivers

   • Condition clauses (Schedule A) give one party the right to cancel within a period if a specified thing is not satisfied — financing, inspection, status certificate, sale of the buyer’s current home, lawyer’s review. Each must be in the buyer’s "sole and absolute discretion" to be a clean exit.
   • Notice of Fulfillment of Condition (Form 124): the condition is satisfied as written — the inspection was done and acceptable.
   • Waiver (Form 123): the party gives up the condition without necessarily fulfilling it — "we are waiving financing," meaning you take the risk. Either form, delivered in time, makes the deal firm.
   • Amendment to Agreement (Form 120): changes a term after acceptance — a new closing date, a price reduction after inspection, a repair. Both parties sign.
   • Mutual Release (Form 122): both parties agree to cancel the agreement and direct the brokerage on the deposit. Without one, a deposit stays in trust until a court orders otherwise.
   • Assignment of Agreement (Form 145/150): transfers the buyer’s rights to a new buyer before closing, with the seller’s consent where required.

4. 4.Seller disclosure: the SPIS and what the law requires

   Ontario has no statutory seller disclosure form. The Seller Property Information Statement (OREA Form 220, with 221–222 for condos and additional features) is voluntary — many listing agents advise against it because every answer is a representation that can be sued on. If a seller provides one, the buyer should read it as a starting point, not a warranty.

   What a seller must disclose regardless: latent defects that make the property dangerous or unfit for habitation and that the seller knows of (the common-law duty), and specific statutory items — a known former marijuana grow operation, UFFI, a buried fuel tank, and any pending work orders or litigation. "Buyer beware" covers patent (visible) defects; it does not protect a seller who conceals a known latent one.

5. 5.FINTRAC: identification and source-of-funds

   Real estate brokerages and lawyers are reporting entities under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act. Expect, for both buyer and seller:

   • Individual Identification Record: government photo ID, verified in person or through a compliant remote process, recorded with the ID number and expiry, your occupation and address.
   • Receipt of Funds Record: for every deposit received, the brokerage records the amount, the payer, the account it came from and the payer’s details.
   • Beneficial ownership: if a corporation or trust is buying or selling, the brokerage must identify who ultimately controls it (since October 11, 2024, the information required has expanded under amended regulations).
   • Politically exposed persons and third-party determination: you will be asked whether the purchase is on behalf of someone else and whether you hold certain public offices.
   • Your lawyer repeats much of this under the Law Society’s client-identification rules, and your lender does it again for the mortgage.

   None of this is optional and none of it is about you personally — a brokerage that skips it faces FINTRAC penalties. Have your ID ready at the first meeting.

6. 6.Condominium documents

   • Status Certificate (Condominium Act s.76): the corporation’s financial and legal snapshot — $100, 10 days, with the declaration, by-laws, rules, budget, audited statements, reserve fund study and insurance certificate attached. See the dedicated guide.
   • Declaration: the condominium’s constitution — unit boundaries, common elements, exclusive-use areas, the percentage each unit pays. Nearly impossible to change (80–90% owner vote).
   • By-laws and Rules: how the corporation runs and what owners may do (pets, rentals, renovations, parking). Rules can be changed by the board with notice.
   • Disclosure Statement (pre-construction only): the developer’s package that starts your 10-day rescission period.
   • Section 98 agreement: required when an owner has altered common elements (a deck, a balcony enclosure); without one, the alteration may have to be removed.

7. 7.Mortgage documents

   • Pre-approval letter: the lender’s non-binding ceiling and rate hold.
   • Mortgage commitment: the binding approval for this property, with conditions (appraisal, insurance proof, final income verification). Sign and return by the deadline or the rate hold lapses.
   • Mortgage instructions: sent by the lender to your lawyer about a week before closing.
   • Charge/Mortgage (the registered document) and the Standard Charge Terms it incorporates — you sign at the lawyer’s office; this is the loan contract, including the prepayment and penalty clauses.
   • Cost of Borrowing disclosure: federally required statement of the APR, term, amortization and total cost.

8. 8.The closing package from your lawyer

   • Transfer/Deed: the registered document conveying title, prepared by the seller’s lawyer, registered electronically through Teraview.
   • Statement of Adjustments: the reconciliation of price, deposit, property tax, condo fees, rents and other prorations to the closing date — the single page that produces the "balance due on closing."
   • Land Transfer Tax affidavit / statements: your declaration of the price and, if applicable, first-time buyer status, sworn through your lawyer.
   • Title insurance policy: issued on closing; keep it with the deed.
   • Undertakings and directions: the lawyers’ promises to each other (discharge the seller’s mortgage, deliver keys) and your written direction on where funds go.
   • Reporting letter: a few weeks after closing, your lawyer sends a summary with copies of everything registered. File it; you will need it when you sell or refinance.

9. 9.Five rules for signing

   • Read Schedule A every time. The pre-printed pages rarely change; the deal lives in the schedule.
   • Do not sign a firm APS without a financing commitment and either an inspection or an informed decision to skip it.
   • Every verbal promise ("the seller will fix the fence") becomes a Form 120 amendment or it does not exist.
   • Electronic signatures are valid in Ontario for real estate agreements, but keep the completed PDFs — not screenshots.
   • Your lawyer should see the APS before it is firm, not after. Many will review a draft for a small fee or as part of the closing retainer.

Documents and rules cited: OREA standard forms (100, 101, 120, 122, 123, 124, 145, 150, 200, 201, 220–222, 300); Trust in Real Estate Services Act, 2002 and O. Reg. 579/23 (RECO Information Guide, representation, self-represented parties); Condominium Act, 1998 ss.73, 76, 98; Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act and regulations (real estate sector obligations; beneficial-ownership amendments in force October 11, 2024); Law Society of Ontario By-law 7.1 (client identification); Electronic Commerce Act, 2000 (as amended 2015 to include real estate agreements); Land Registration Reform Act / Teraview. This is general information, not legal advice.